Overwhelming Firepower

The war with Inevir was looking to be a one-sided matter when one of the legions of the Rocton Empire joined the war. They came because Inevir was one of their vassal kingdoms.

Though that move did not change much of the situation, it gave Inevir enough time to produce a weapon that could match Norvaegard’s guns.

They created their own gun that uses the mana from a person or a mana crystal, concentrates it into a single point, and blasts it out in a concentrated beam.

The power of the mana gun they created depended on the quality of mana used, but it was faster, and in a one-on-one situation, it was a truly powerful weapon.

Robert had considered a similar idea before, but abandoned it because he disliked weapons whose power could not be standardized.

The first mana guns appeared during an attack against the eastern front.

Six Fenrirs were advancing toward the Inevirian defensive line, supported by several hundred riflemen. Most of the stone golems protecting the position had already been destroyed, while the remaining Inevirian soldiers were sheltering behind broken fortifications.

Then several figures emerged from behind the surviving golems.

Each carried a weapon shaped like a long rifle. Metal rings covered in runes surrounded the barrel, while a mana crystal had been placed inside a chamber near the stock.

The Inevirian mana-gunners lowered their weapons.

”Fire!”

Mana surged through the crystals. The rings along the barrels began glowing, concentrating the energy into points of brilliant light.

The weapons discharged. Thin beams crossed the battlefield almost instantly.

The first struck the frontal armor of a Fenrir. The orichalcum reinforcement dispersed most of the mana, causing the beam to scatter into several smaller streams that left glowing marks across the black steel.

The second beam was weaker. It struck another Fenrir but only scorched its armor.

The third was entirely different. Its light was thicker and considerably brighter than the others. It struck the joint beneath a Fenrir’s turret and burned through the layered armor.

Molten metal sprayed into the compartment. The crew shouted as a steam pipe ruptured. White vapor burst from the damaged turret, and the Fenrir gradually slowed before coming to a stop.

The Norvaegard soldiers stared at the disabled machine. Until that moment, no spell could do that much damage from that distance.

Still, their shock did not last that long. They quickly understood that the new weapon the enemy was using was similar to their guns but with a long reload time. Not to mention that the power released was erratic.

They then looked at the person who fired that shot, and the commander present shouted a command.

”Focus fire on the one who disabled the Fenrir!”

Every rifleman with a clear line of sight turned toward the mana-gunner. The Gatling guns mounted upon the two nearest Fenrirs rotated in the same direction.

The mana-gunner’s eyes widened. He was trying his hardest to pour in his mana for a second shot, but doing so was taking too much time. This was another defect of the mana gun.

The riflemen opened fire. The mana-gunner who was concentrating on pouring his mana into the gun had created a barrier around him.

The first bullets struck its surface and created ripples of light, but then the Gatling guns joined the barrage. With that concentrated fire, it didn’t take long for his barrier to crack.

Bullets struck the mana-gunner and threw him backward. His concentration disappeared, and the mana gathered inside the weapon escaped through the damaged runes. Sparks burst from the barrel before the light faded completely.

Of course, as this was happening, the other mana-gunners were already done charging their weapon and fired their second shot.

Several beams crossed the battlefield.

Several struck the frontal armor of a few Fenrirs and scattered across the orichalcum reinforcement.

A few others burned through the housing of a Gatling gun, melting several barrels and forcing the crew to shut it down.

They even burst through a few riflemen, but that was it. They had fired two shots; on the other hand, the Norvaegard had already fired back a hundred more shots.

The penetrating power and the distance of the mana-gun were greater, but that was it; that was all the advantage it had.

In a battle between two individuals, those advantages might have decided the outcome. On a battlefield filled with hundreds of soldiers, they were not enough.

”Keep advancing!” A Norvaegard commander shouted.

As the Fenrir unit, alongside the riflemen, slowly advanced, gaining more ground, Inevir’s side remained passive, defending a certain area.

After a few hours of back and forth, something from Inevir’s side started moving. In the distance, it looked like a mountain was moving, but then they saw it was a golem, and it was moving towards Norvaegard’s forces.

This was Inevir’s answer to the Fenrir unit of Norvaegard, the Bulwark Golem.

Enormous slabs of dark stone formed its body, while thick plates of enchanted metal protected the joints between them. Thousands of runes covered its chest and arms, spreading outward from several large mana crystals buried deep within its body.

Each of its arms was wider than a Fenrir.

The Bulwark Golem raised them in front of itself, and the runes carved into the stone began glowing. A massive barrier appeared, covering the golem and the soldiers advancing behind it.

The surviving mana-gunners and regular mages followed within its shadow alongside the normal-sized golems.

Still, despite the initial surprise, the soldiers of Norvaegard did not react much and continued normally.

Their kingdom had dealt with several mountain-sized monsters before seeing something this big was not something new to them.

The Fenrirs opened fire. Five cannon shells struck the enormous barrier almost simultaneously.

Explosions covered the front of the golem in fire and smoke, while the ground trembled beneath the combined force.

Cracks of light spread across the barrier. However, before the Fenrirs could finish reloading, mana flowed from the crystals buried within the Bulwark Golem.

The cracks gradually disappeared, restoring the barrier before the next volley could be fired.

The Gatling guns continued shooting, but their bullets created nothing more than countless ripples across its surface.

Protected behind the barrier, the mana-gunners began charging their weapons. The regular mages gathered their mana as well.

Unlike ordinary barriers, this one had been designed to stop attacks coming from the front while allowing spells and concentrated mana to pass through from behind.

This was something Inevir made to counter the Fenrirs that they kept losing to. The war had been going on for months now, and they weren’t able to get away from Norvaegard’s borders.

In fact, they were the ones being pushed back. The Bulwark Golem had been created to change that.

The mana-gunners fired from behind its barrier. Concentrated beams crossed the battlefield, followed by fireballs, wind blades, and spears of ice.

The Fenrirs withstood most of the attacks, but the riflemen advancing beside them were forced to seek cover.

The ordinary golems continued forward. Whenever one moved beyond the barrier, the Gatling guns tore into it.

However, the golems only needed to keep the Norvaegard soldiers from approaching the Bulwark Golem.

The enormous golem took another step. Its foot struck the ground with enough force to shake the nearby Fenrirs. Several runes covering its legs dimmed from the amount of mana required to move such a massive body.

Creating the Bulwark Golem had required an enormous quantity of rare materials and several high-quality mana crystals. Even then, it could only travel a short distance before exhausting its reserves.

However, it did not need to cross the entire battlefield. It only needed to advance far enough to reclaim the defensive line.

”Keep on firing! Its defensive barrier will eventually break!” The Norvaegard commander shouted. In this battle, they had no mages or aura knights on this battlefield today.

Those forces were placed in different areas. They had thought that the Fenrirs would have been enough for this battlefield. There was not even a Thornefang leader present on this battlefield.

The commander had already reported their situation. Unfortunately, even with their current situation, the other units were also busy with their own battlefields, making it hard for reinforcements to arrive. They needed to deal with this on their own.

Even so, the commander had no intention of surrendering the position without trying everything available to him. He too was a warrior of Norvaegard.

”It’s time to show our worth! May we all arrive in Varkun’s hall of heroes!” The commander inside one of the Fenrirs got out and suddenly shouted at his men.

The soldiers reacted immediately and roared. ”For Norvaegard!”

Their voices spread throughout the battlefield. The commander returned to his Fenrir and climbed through the open hatch. He used his communications orbs to convey his orders to the others.

”Fenrirs, stagger your cannon fire! Riflemen, divide your targets between the mana-gunners and mages! Keep them from concentrating!”

That single order changed the rhythm of the battle. Instead of receiving one powerful blow followed by a long pause, the barrier was now being struck continuously.

The riflemen watched the spreading cracks. Whenever an opening appeared, dozens of them fired into it.

It didn’t matter if not all of them got through, but with the volume of attacks, surely many would get through those spreading cracks.

Most of their bullets still struck the barrier, but a few passed through before the damage could be repaired.

One mana-gunner collapsed with a bullet through his head, while a mage was struck in the leg and lost control of his spell.

The two sides continued to exchange fire, with neither gaining the upper hand like before, but that equilibrium was broken when the bulwark golem moved again.

The Bulwark Golem took another step. Deep within its torso, several Inevirian support mages stood inside a chamber constructed around one of its massive mana crystals.

They pressed their hands against rune-covered pillars and poured their mana into the golem.

The energy traveled through conduits buried beneath layers of stone and enchanted metal.

Lines of light spread downward from the Bulwark Golem’s chest. The runes covering its mountain-sized legs brightened, and its enormous foot slowly rose from the ground.

That single move already consumed a lot of mana from those support mages as they started panting. Still, the support mages continued pouring their mana into the golem.

The raised foot descended. It shook the ground like a wave, making the nearby Fenrirs flip. Its two arms rose above its head. Seeing this action, everyone knew what it was about to do.

”RETREAT!” The commander shouted.

The command had barely left his mouth when something struck the Bulwark Golem’s left knee.

The enchanted metal protecting the joint caved inward. Stone fragments larger than a man exploded from its leg, and several of the glowing runes were erased instantly.

The Bulwark Golem stumbled. Its raised arms swung apart as it attempted to regain its balance.

One foot slid backward, carving a trench through the ground, while its enormous body leaned dangerously to one side.

The attack it had been preparing never came. A moment later, the sound of the shot reached the battlefield.

It rolled across the plains like thunder. The Norvaegard commander turned toward the distant hills behind them.

The projectile had come from so far away that he could not even see the person who had fired it.

What he could see was a thin trail left behind by the bullet. It had passed through one of the cracks created by the Fenrir cannons before striking the golem’s knee.

There was only one person who could have made that impossible shot: the Ever-Victorious, Lucen Thornehart.

Two more gunshots echoed from the distant hills. Lucen was flying through the sky. Lucen had dismissed the long rifle after firing that single shot. His twin revolvers were now held in his hands, both barrels pointing forward in the air.

Lucen landed upon the battlefield, his trench coat fluttering in the wind as he looked up at the Bulwark Golem.

A grin appeared upon his face. ”You know what they say. The bigger they are, the harder they fall.”